Sunday, May 26, 2013

May Animation News Roundup

Alrighty, here are a few things that slipped through the cracks a.k.a. animation news that I did not cover yet...
The UK recently got a new trailer for Turbo that is very similar to the last one we got, but it does show off some new footage.

Anyways, I still think this film looks like fun. It's just surreal that this concept was actually pulled off well, because I'll admit, long before the teaser showed up, I kind of trashed it. I didn't think that this crazy cartoonish idea would work for a feature-length film... But it seems like it will, and the titular snail is likable enough. Yes the Ratatouille vibe is there, but I don't think DreamWorks was aiming for a very original story here... Just a sit-back-and-relax one. Some of the jokes are pretty funny, some are not. Overall, it looks enjoyable.

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A teaser for Rio 2 has finally arrived. Just in time too, since Blue Sky's Epic opens this coming weekend...

It's your typical teaser: Nothing on the plot, but we do get to see Blu and Jewel's children and we get a nice little scene with Nigel at the end. To me, he was one of the best things about the film so it'll be fun to see him return. Also, the new Blue Sky Studios logo is pretty cool!

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The next bit of news is a bit... Interesting. Al Pacino had provided the voice for a villain named Eduardo in Despicable Me 2, but he's left the project over creative differences (!) and the film opens in less than two (!!) months, so the studio already got a replacement... Benjamin Bratt. First of all, what "differences" did Mr. Pacino have with the studio? And wasn't all of his work recorded already? I guess he didn't want his voice in the finished film since he left over such differences... I don't know, it all sounds silly to me.

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The other day, Disney released a sizzle reel for DisneyToon Studios' Planes, a sizzle reel that's actually kind of impressive... Well, visually...

It's surprising that Disney would dedicate a whole reel to a film that was really meant to be a cash cow from the start, and a direct-to-video one at that! Yes I did admit that it could be good after hearing what The Rotoscopers had said about it (they saw a test screening of the film last month), and the animation is surprisingly not too bad for a DisneyToon production. I will say one thing, it looks much better than the Tinker Bell movies! What the dialogue and writing will be like, I have no idea. The teaser only has a few lines along with the first clip, which is cheesy, but not horrible. It could be a bit of harmless fun.

That doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it, though. I can simply take it or leave it at this rate...

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For a while I didn't think this film was going to arrive this year since we've heard very, very little about it... It looks like we're actually getting Walking with Dinosaurs 3D (well according to the trailers, it's now Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie) in theaters this holiday season... The film, based on the BBC series of the same name, has been listed for quite some time but yet we didn't hear too much about it. Here's the international trailer that first appeared at the beginning of the month...

There's also a domestic trailer that just debuted recently, but it's really nothing special. It's loaded with cheesy first-person narration, making the film seem like Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron's poorly-written cousin. If anything, this film better not have any dialogue whatsoever. If it doesn't, then it will be the film that The Land Before Time and Disney's Dinosaurshould have been. That, and the first excellent animated film that's about prehistoric beasts... Unless Pixar's The Good Dinosaur claims that title. (Your mileage may vary on Land and Dinosaur.)

Like Dinosaur, the beasts are animated but everything else is live action. The CGI is questionable, considering that $65 million was spent on this production. The movements are a bit wonky and they kind of clash with the backgrounds, not to mention, there doesn't seem to be much exaggeration or caricature like there was in Dinosaur. The animation of the dinos just seems restrained. Other than that, the adventure itself seems cool. It was said that it'll be more of a film for movie-goers than an accurate representation of dinosaurs, and this trailer pretty much seals the deal.

Disney veteran Barry Cook is the director of this film along with documentary veteran Neil Nightingale, and it comes out on December 20th. This will be an interesting one to track.

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What are your thoughts on the different trailers? What do think of the whole Al Pacino fiasco with Despicable Me 2? Did the Planes sizzle reel impress you? Or do you think the film looks deplorable? What is your take on Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie? Sound off below!

Greetings, Programs!

Animation lover, aspiring writer/director of animated films, 60s and 70s music fan, collector of vinyl records, vintage Disney VHS aficionado and proud Aspie. Formerly known as Ostrumation92, also known as Imaxination1980.

Update (9/1/2017): This post from time to time keeps showing up in my "most-viewed" box... Why? Was there some big Drunky upd...

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